I Thought I Lost You
by The Cursed Shadow
Summary: What happens when J.J. gets taken by an unsub for three days? Will the team arrive in time to save her? Was the unsub working alone? And will Prentiss get the courage to tell J.J. how she feels?
1. I Thought I Lost You

"_I finally found myself in love with you, when I felt the saddest moment of my life when you left me and the happiest moment of my life when you came back"-Unknown Author_

Her heart felt like it stopped in her chest as she rode in the back seat of the SUV with her team. They rode in silence on the way to J.J.'s old house. Will had J.J. for three days, who knew what he had done.

"I need everyone to remember that finding J.J. is the main priority. If you find Will, arrest him, but secure J.J. at all costs," Hotch said, anger and concern clear in his voice.

Emily didn't need to be told twice. She would go to the ends of the earth to make sure the blonde agent was okay. As soon as the SUV came to a stop she exited and grabbed her gun, Morgan treading on her heels, watching her back.

He kicked the front door open. They shared a glance, passing a silent agreement not to split up. They moved quickly yet silently through the house, checking every corner for hostiles.

"Don't back talk me!" they heard Will say, they recognized him because of his prominent Louisiana accent.

They hurried towards the room his voice came from, but they didn't arrive before the bang, or the scream that ensued. They ran in, guns pointed directly at Will's check.

"Will!" Morgan yelled, "FBI! Put the weapon down!"

Will turned to them, but instead of dropping his weapon the agents heard him cock it, preparing to shoot. He didn't get the chance. Morgan nearly emptied his clip into Will's chest.

Emily holstered her gun as she ran and knelt at the blond agent's side. Her left ankle was chained to the wall. The brunette's breath caught in her throat as she saw the bruises and cuts all over J.J.'s body.

She looked closer and saw J.J.'s hand resting gently on her chest. Prentiss moved the blue eyed agent's hand to see a gash longer than her hand. Emily put both of her hands over the gash and applied pressure.

"I need a medic!" Morgan yelled into his earpiece as he pulled a key out of Will's pocket.

Emily kept the pressure on J.J.'s wound, trying to stop the bleeding, but the warm, crimson liquid trickled slowly through her fingers. She could feel the blonde's erratic breathing under her hands.

"Emily?" she heard a weak groan, she looked down to see a blue eye staring up at her, since one of J.J.'s eyes was swelled shut because of bruising.

"I'm here," Prentiss replied, "Stay with me J.J."

"Where is the medic?" Morgan screamed, his brown eyes meeting her own.

"He might have hit the artery. I can't tell because the bleeding's too fast and I can't move my hand to check," she looked at Morgan's hand pressing against the blonde's thigh, blood oozing through his fingers.

She felt J.J.'s breathing slow beneath her, and she quickly turned her attention back to her.

"J.J., you've been doing so well," Prentiss said, trying to keep her voice steady, "You've survived for three days. We just need you to hold on a little longer."

The blonde didn't respond, only gently squeezed Emily's forearm, giving her teammate the sign she was still alive.

"Stay awake, J.J.," Emily said, "Don't shut your eyes."

"Bomb," J.J. murmured before she closed her eye.

Emily started panicking, but she quickly moved out of the medics' way. They kept talking about things Emily didn't want to know. All she wanted to hear from them was that J.J. was going to be okay.

"We have to move her," one of the paramedics said as the two of them lifted J.J. onto a gurney.

Morgan and Prentiss followed them out, not worried about Will's body, they knew Hotchner would take care of it. As J.J. was lifted into the ambulance the paramedics turned to look at her.

"We need one of you to accompany us," they said.

"Prentiss you go," Morgan said, "I'll catch up in the truck later."

Emily nodded as she climbed into the ambulance, watching Morgan become farther and farther away as the sirens turned on. It was difficult for the brunette to take her eyes away from Jennifer. She hated to see her teammate in pain, much less from her ex boyfriend.

She was about to ask a question when she heard the roar of an explosion in the distance. Emily turned to look out the window. The house they had just been in had gone up into flames. She searched for her entire team, but she didn't see all of them before the ambulance turned the corner.

When they arrived at the hospital Emily got out of the paramedics' way as they lowered J.J. to the ground, rolling her into the hospital.

"What happened?" the doctor asked as he ran around the corner to the gurney, listening intently to the paramedics' explanation.

"Is she going to be okay?" Emily asked, not caring that she was interrupting something possibly important.

"We don't know for sure ma'am," the doctor said, "We're going to need you to wait out here while we take her into surgery."

Prentiss nodded as she watched J.J. disappear behind the doors leading into surgery. She sighed and sat in a waiting room chair, hoping her team would get there soon.

She couldn't stop thinking about the blonde agent. How she'd looked when they'd found her, the way she'd screamed when Will shot her. She wanted to find someway to resurrect the man so she could shoot him herself. There had been so much she wanted to tell J.J., so many things she'd wanted the blonde to know. She put her face in her hands as the realization dawned that she might not get the chance.

Her phone ringed, causing her to jump and interrupting her thoughts. She grabbed it out of her pocket and sighed when she saw the caller id. She answered and hesitated before answering.

"Hello?"

"Emily," Garcia said frantically, "Are you okay? Where is everyone? There was an explosion at the house! I saw it on tv! I called you first since I figured you would know. Did you catch Will? Where is he? I want to go kick the crap out of him? How's J.J.? Is she okay? Did he hurt her? Now I really want to hurt him!"

Prentiss couldn't help but give a small smile, one of her friend's quirks was she talked quickly whenever she felt panicked. It didn't take that long in the BAU to figure that out.

"I don't know where anyone is, Garcia," she answered flatly, "I left in the ambulance with J.J."

"Oh my God! He hurt her didn't he? How is she?" Garcia's voice cracked, her panic was getting worse.

"I don't know," the profiler admitted, "I'm in the waiting room. J.J.'s in surgery."

"That's it!" Garcia yelled into the phone, making Emily move it from her ear for a second, but she put it back and she could hear a zipper. "I am coming to the hospital. I am not staying in my safe little box while my darling J.J. is in a hospital getting who knows what done to her to try and fix her! I will not leave her alone to do this because she's been alone for three days!"

"Garcia," Emily interrupted, her voice pleading with the computer genius not to continue.

"I can't lose her, Em," Garcia said softly, "She left once but we saw each other. She was okay. I can't lose her permanently."

"I know," Prentiss said, "Neither can I."

She heard Penelope's slight chuckle and her deep intake of breath, "I will be there in as fast as I can. You'll call me if something important happens?"

"I promise," the brunette reassured.

"Ciao darling," Garcia said, trying to be brave for Emily's sake, but when she hung up she nearly started to sob.

Emily put the phone back in her pocket. She shook her head. Why did this have to happen to J.J. of all people? The blonde agent who was kind, who spent her days helping families of victims get closer and stopping bad men from continuing to hurt others.

She was selfless. She was the most selfless person Emily had ever known. She sacrificed time with her son to help other people. The brunette couldn't help the wave of guilt that washed over her. This was her fault.

_She walked to J.J.'s office. It was late at night and even Hotch had left the office, but she and J.J. were still there. Prentiss was there because J.J. was. She wasn't going to leave her friend alone to finish all her paperwork._

_She hesitated before knocking on the door, butterfiles appearing in her stomach. Emily knew why they were there, but she pushed them down, not letting them control the situation._

_"Come in," she heard the blonde say._

_The brunette opened the door and J.J. looked up with a smile. She saw how many papers were on the former liason's desk, and yes she still performed the duties but she also had to profile. The blonde may have hidden it, but Prentiss knew the stress was there._

_"You still have paperwork?" Emily asked._

_Jennifer chuckled, "You have no idea how much," she said, sending a smile the older agent's way._

_"Jenn," Emily started, "It's almost midnight. You should go home, get some sleep."_

_"I would," J.J. replied, "if I didn't have all this paperwork."_

_The brunette smiled, "Tell you what," she said, "if you go home now I'll help you with all this paperwork tomorrow."_

_"That's too much to ask," Jennifer replied, "Especially if you've got your own paperwork."_

_"I finsihed mine a little while ago," Prentiss said, "I can help you, but only tomorrow."_

_Emily couldn't help but smile as Jennifer's blue eyes stared into her own, no doubt searching for an alterior motive._

_"Fine," J.J. said, "but you are not getting out of helping me."_

_"Wouldn't dream of it," the brunette responded._

_They walked out of the office after J.J. got her things. They stood in the elevator in silence._

_"Do you need a ride?" Emily asked as she saw J.J. leaning against the elevator wall, shutting her eyes._

_"No," the younger agent replied, "I'll be fine."_

_"Offer's still open if you change your mind before we get to the ground floor," Emily said with a smile._

_"Thanks, Em," Jennifer repiled, "but I'll be okay. I'll just go home and sleep and think about how nice it will be not to do half of the paperwork on my desk."_

_Prentiss laughed at the blonde. She didn't mind helping at all, especially when it was J.J._

_"See you tomorrow, Em," J.J. said. _

That was the last Prentiss saw of J.J. before she was taken.

The brunette felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Morgan and the rest of the team. Looking at the clock she saw an hour had passed. Emily didn't realize how much time she'd spent thinking.

"How is she?" Rossi asked.

"She hasn't come out of surgery yet," Emily replied, keeping her voice steady as not to upset the rest of the team. "What happened at the house? I saw the explosion from the ambulance."

"Will had apparently set it up before hand," Hotch answered, "We couldn't get inside before it went off."

"He was already dead," Morgan answered, "It wouldn't have changed anything even if we had gotten inside the house."

"Is she going to be okay?" Reid asked, his voice sounded like a child in that moment. Everyone could tell, even without being profilers, that he was worried about J.J.

"I don't know," Prentiss answered, "The doctors said they didn't know when they took her back for surgery."

"How long has she been in surgery," Rossi asked.

"About an hour," Emily told them, "I haven't gotten any news."

Rossi was about to say something else when they heard a familiar voice come from behind them.

"No you do not understand!" the female voice said, "There is an FBI agent in surgery in this hospital and if you do not let me back I will call my team leader and have him force you to let me back there."

"I'm sorry ma'am," the receptionist said, "but-"

"You're sorry?" Garcia asked, cutting off the kind receptionist, "You're not sorry. That's not your team mate in there!"

"Excuse me, miss?" Morgan said to the receptionist, showing her his crudentials, "She's with us."

"Oh," the receptionist said, "I'm so sorry. Go right ahead ma'am."

"Thank you," Morgan said as he kindly led Garcia to the rest of the team.

"How can she be flirting with you at a time like this?" Garcia almost yelled, but Prentiss was certain the receptionist could hear.

"She doesn't understand," Hotchner tried to reassure the technical analyst, "She's not our friend. She doesn't know what it's like to be in this position."

"I'd like to show her that's what I'd like to to," Garcia mumbled.

"What's wrong, kiddo?" Rossi asked, interrupting Garcia's ranting as he saw Prentiss looked more down than the rest of them.

"How did we not know Will was a serial killer?" Prentiss asked, "How could we have almost let J.J. get married to a serial killer?"

Garcia sighed, "He changed his name in the databases. When the fingerprints came up from the original cases it had a different name, but it was the same person."

"If I had insisted she'd gotten a ride with me-"

"You wouldn't have gotten her to," Rossi said, "J.J.'s stubborn. She always has been. She knows how to avoid certain situations, evade questions, and give you the response you want to hear. It's what she does with the reporters and press. If a bunch of hungry shark reporters can't get her to break then I doubt any one of us would."

"He's right," Hotch agreed, "No one is to blame for this except Will."

Prentiss watched as Reid started to pace. She could practically see the gears turning in his genius mind. She wondered what he was thinking about.

"It shouldn't take this long for her to be in surgery," Reid said, question answered, "I mean, if she's going to survive."

"Reid," Hotch interrupted him, "J.J. is going to survive, but we don't need to be calculating the possible ways she couldn't."

Reid nodded, "Okay," he said, looking at Emily, somehow he knew Emily was thinking exactly the same thing.

"There's one thing I'd like to know," Garcia said.

"What's that?" Rossi asked.

"How did Will manage to change his name in every single database this country has?" Garcia asked, "It's impossible except for someone in my position. They'd have to hack into the pentagon, and the United States' agencies."

"He must have had an accomplice," Reid said, "but who?"

"And do you think he'd come after J.J.?" Garcia asked.

"Well, why would he do that?" Rossi asked.

"What if this entire time Will was just being nice so he could kill J.J. later. Like it was an undercover operation. The accomplice could be his partner," Garcia said.

"It's an interesting theory," Rossi agreed, "but we don't have any proof that it's true."

"It doesn't matter," Hotchner ordered, "We'll have two agents here watching over J.J. full time. The rest of us will try to find the accomplice."

"Uh," Garcia stuttered, "Sir."

"Yes, Garcia?"

"Is it okay if I stay with J.J. too?" she asked, "I can get the work done from my computer all I need is a wall plug and I don't want to leave her because I can't stand the thought of losing one of my babies and-"

"Okay," Hotchner said, "but only for three days. We'll need you back to search other leads."

"Three days is enough sir," Garcia said with a smile that looked bright enough to blind the entire room, "Thank you."

"Excuse me," a doctor said, walking over to the team, "Are you for miss Jennifer Jareau?"

"Yes," Prentiss said, not saying anything else.

"We're here for miss Jareau," Hotchner continued, "Can you tell us anything new?"

"Well," the doctor began, "She has numerous bruises and lacerations across her body. The worst wounds are the gunshot she receieved to the leg, her dislocated shoulder, a broken ulna, and a laceration in her abdomen."

"Can we see her?" Hotchner asked, his impatience building.

"She is also in a coma," the doctor said grimly.

Prentiss didn't think her heart could sink anymore after hearing the news. J.J. was in a coma?

"We aren't sure if she's going to wake up," the doctor said.

"But there is a possibility?" Rossi asked.

"Yes," the doctor said with hope, "it's slim, but your agent still has a chance."

"We're going to place two agents in this hospital full time to watch over her," Hotchner said.

"That's all right with me," the doctor said, "though I must request you stay in the agent's room. We don't want to scare the other patients."

"Of course, doctor. Thank you."

"You can go into her room if you'd like," the doctor stated, "but I would ask that you please don't do anything stimulating. She's in room 317."

"Thank you again, doctor."

"If you need anything or she wakes up press the page button on the side of her bed," the doctor noted before walking off.

Prentiss was second to walk into J.J.'s hospital room. She was behind Hotch, and although she would have rather run straight into the room to see J.J. she held herself back.

She saw the blonde lying in a hospital bed, breathing tubes coming from her throat. The swelling in her eye had gone down slightly and she didn't appear to be in any pain, but that didn't stop Prentiss from worrying.

Emily sat in one of the two chairs by the window, awaiting orders as the rest of the team filed into the room.

"Prentiss and Morgan," Hotch began giving orders, "You two will stay with J.J."

Emily nodded, she was certainly glad Hotch didn't put her on desk duty. She couldn't have handled being away from the blonde agent like that.

"Garcia stays for three days but then she helps the rest of us find Will's accomplice if there is one," he continued. "We all know where we're supposed to be. Those of us who are going back to Quantico should get going."

He left, but Prentiss saw him give a look of sympathy and regret to J.J. before leaving. Reid quickly followed, but Rossi stayed behind. He placed a kiss tenderly to the back of J.J.'s hand.

"You're going to be okay, kiddo," he whispered comfortingly into her ear before he walked out of the room.

After several minutes of sitting in silence Emily took J.J.'s hand gently. She could feel her teammates eyes on her.

"Come back to us, J.J.," she said, but she whispered too softly for anyone to hear, "Come back to me."

"Don't leave us like this," Morgan said, "Who else is going to feed the sharks?"

Garcia smiled, "That reminds me of a Jimmy Buffett song," she said with a slight laugh.

The others couldn't help laughing with her. They tried to talk about small things that had been happening in their lives. Their families, the weather, sports, even things they didn't think they would talk about. Not once did Prentiss' hand move from J.J.'s.

While the girls were laughing at Morgan's attempt to sing Jimmy Buffett his phone rang. He stopped listening to answer.

"Yeah, Hotch, what's up?" he asked into the phone, the girls anxiously awaiting a report.

"What?" Morgan said, "Okay. I'll tell them. Yeah, Hotch, I know. Bye."

Prentiss saw his grim expression when he hung up the phone. Morgan sighed before punching the wall. He didn't hurt anything, but both the girls could tell he was seething.

"What happened?" Garcia asked, being the only one brave enough.

"The fire department found another body in J.J.'s old house," Morgan said, sitting down and putting his hands in his lap.

"Who was it?" Garcia asked, anticipation on her face as her hands shook in her lap.

"It was the body of a child."

Garcia gasped, putting her hands over her mouth and shaking her head, not willing to say the answer out loud.

"Henry."


	2. Awake and Alive

Five weeks had passed since J.J. was entered into the hospital. She hadn't woken up, and the brown haired agent practically never left her side. The few times when she did was when Morgan insisted she go home and change or when she had to use the restroom.

Morgan and Prentiss each took turns going back home to change. They would leave in the night and return, and one would go out for lunch and bring the other something back.

Emily was glad they didn't talk about J.J.'s condition. She could barely handle being the in the same room with the unconscious blonde agent anymore. Everything seemed to be closing in on her. All the fear she felt for J.J. got worse with each passing day. The older agent could help but wonder if J.J. was really going to be all right.

The others worked on cases, although they stayed local. Their main priority was finding an accomplice, though the five weeks hadn't given many results, nor had they given hope. She shook her head, why did Will do this? That was the real question.

"Morgan," she said quietly, worried her voice might give out.

"Yeah, Em?" he asked.

"What if we've been thinking about this all wrong?" she replied.

"Care to explain?"

"We've been profiling Will as J.J.'s husband," she explained, "but what if we profiled him based off of the several murders Garcia found in the system."

"We profile him like an unsub and we find the why," Morgan agreed, nodding his head.

"Exactly," Emily said with a smile, "If we find the why maybe we can find the accomplice."

"That's brilliant!" Morgan exclaimed with a smile, the hope shone brightly in his eyes, "Go call Hotch and tell him. I'll stay with her."

He could see the hesitation in her eyes when asked to leave the blonde agent, but she nodded. He watched her dial Hotch and walk outside the hospital room. His feet carried him to J.J.'s side, forcing him to sit next to her. He'd been avoiding it for the five weeks, allowing Prentiss to take that spot, but somehow it felt good to be next to her.

He took the blonde's hand in his own and gently held it. He sighed, and for the first time in a long time, he prayed. He prayed for her survival as he held her soft, limp hand. He slightly squeezed her hand as he finished praying in his head.

"Come back to us, J.J." he whispered, unshed tears glowing in his eyes, "We need you. Prentiss needs you. I don't know if you've seen it or not but she's happier around you, and now," he paused, "I just hate to think how she'd feel if you were gone."

He sighed, and felt a slight twitch in his hand. He figured it was his own from grief, but he felt it again. He looked at his hand and saw a slight movement from J.J.'s fingers as they slightly squeezed his hand. He looked up to the blonde's face, and her eyes slowly opened. He was about to call her name but her expression quickly contorted to one filled with pain. He quickly pushed the pager on the side of J.J.'s bed, when no one came he ran outside the room.

"Doc!" he yelled, "We need some help in here!"

Prentiss, who was still talking to Agent Hotchner on the phone, heard Morgan's commotion.

"I'll have to call you back," she said calmly before hanging up without a warning and without waiting to hear the team leader's response.

She rushed into the blonde's hospital room to see the doctor and nurses taking the breathing tubes out of J.J.'s throat. At first she assumed the worst but let out a sigh of relief as they pressed an oxygen mask to the agent's face, and her heart lifted as she watched the blonde's chest rise and fall heavily. She looked over at Morgan, who had the biggest grin on his face as he looked at J.J.

After about ten minutes the doctor left the room, and J.J. didn't have the oxygen mask on, so she could breathe normally. Her bed was set up so she was sitting. Prentiss walked over next to her and took the blonde's hand in hers.

"How are you feeling?" the brunette asked, concern seeping out of her voice.

"Like I just got hit by a bus," the blonde responded, a glimmer of playfulness in her eyes.

The other two agents laughed, it wasn't meant to be hurtful, but they all understood the subtext. _If only it were as simple as you getting hit by a bus._

"So," J.J. said, feeling awkward, "How long was I out?"

The other two agents were reluctant at first, but it was Morgan who found the bravery to talk.

"You were in a coma for five weeks," he said, his voice gentle and calm, but on the inside he felt as if he were going to break down. He wouldn't do that in front of J.J.

J.J. sighed as she rubbed her left temple.

"You okay?" Prentiss asked.

"Yeah," the blonde said, "I just can't remember much about what happened."

"What do you remember?" Morgan asked.

"I remember being hit on the back of the head and then being inside my house, chained to the wall by my ankle. Then I remember," she stopped as her voice caught in her throat, and a familiar lump made its way in.

"J.J.?" Emily said, sitting down next to J.J. without taking her hand away from the younger agent's.

The blonde cleared her throat, "I remember Henry."

She looked up and saw the grim faces of her team.

"Jenn," Prentiss said, "Henry's-"

"Dead," J.J. finished for her, "I know."

She saw Morgan raise his eyebrow, "How? The explosion happened after you were unconscious."

"The explosion didn't kill Henry," Jennifer explained, "Will did."

"What?" Morgan asked, anger and confusion prominent in his voice.

"Will took the gun and he-" the blonde agent's voice broke as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"J.J.," Emily whispered, not trusting her voice, "I'm so sorry. We didn't want to force you to think about this so soon."

The former media liaison stopped more tears from flowing out of her eyes. She held her ground, trying to be strong in front of her team. She nodded, but her hand gripped Emily's tightly, displaying her pain. She was grateful for Emily being at her side.

"What's been going on while I was out?" J.J. asked, eager to get back to work.

Morgan looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "I don't think you want to know."

"Morgan-"

"I'm serious, J.J.," he said, "There are things you don't want to know this soon after waking up. I promise you we will tell you, just not now."

The blonde's stubborn nature came out as she sent him a small glare, but he only smiled at her, glad that she was still able to glare at him. J.J. looked to Emily, hoping for answers, but the elder agent shook her head. Sighing, J.J. looked at her physical condition. She saw her arm in a sling, her shoulder and chest hurt, and she could remember the gunshot, knowing what the pain in her leg was from.

"Are you in pain?" Emily asked, watching J.J. as the blonde assessed her condition.

"I'm fine," she insisted.

"If you're in any pain tell us," Emily replied, "We can call the doctor and he can give you some medication-"

"Emily," J.J. interrupted, "I'm fine."

The brunette glared at Morgan as she heard his chuckling. He raised his hands in surrender, smiling as Emily looked at J.J., her eyes filled with concern. He could remember how he felt watching Emily die under his hands because of Doyle. He knew how Emily felt. She had to watch J.J. in the ambulance and wait for her to come out of surgery. The worst part for his partner was having to look at the blonde everyday and not know if she would ever wake up.

Morgan quickly got out his phone and handed it to the blonde, the ringing soft but audible.

"Who are you calling?" J.J. asked, putting the phone to her ear.

"Garcia," Morgan said with a smile, "I figured she would want to know you're awake."

Emily laughed as J.J. smiled, but the brunette still refused to let go of the former liazon's hand.

"How is my chocolate Adonis?" Garcia's answer came from the phone.

"I'm sure he's bored, considering he's had to sit here for the past five weeks," J.J. responded, smiling at the silence that came as her reply.

"J.J.?"

"Hi Garcia," the blonde replied, tears nearly coming to her eyes again. She forced them down and put on a genuine smile, glad to hear the technical analyst's voice.

"J.J.!" Garcia practically yelled into the phone, "I'm so glad you're okay! I wasn't sure if you were going to make it and I've been freaking out. I asked Reid everyday for statistics and he kept giving me negative numbers so I had to hit him over the head. I hope I didn't damage his brain cells. Do you think I brought his IQ down? Never mind. I am coming to the hospital now. I'll let Hotch know, I'm sure everyone else will want to see you. Okay, can't talk now. I'll see you when I get there. Ciao darling."

J.J. could only sit in silence as she heard the click of Garcia hanging up. She laughed, hanging up Morgan's phone and handing it back to him.

"She's on her way isn't she?" Morgan asked with a smile.

The blonde nodded. Morgan laughed as he shoved his phone into his pocket, knowing Garcia he had a feeling she would be there in less than twenty minutes. Sure enough, he was right. Garcia rushed into the hospital room fifteen minutes later with tears in her eyes.

"J.J.," Garcia whispered as she rushed over and pulled the blonde agent into a hug, squeezing the air out of her chest.

"I'm so happy to see you!" Garcia said, "I stayed with you for three days but then Hotch made me go back. I called Morgan everyday to see how you were and I tried to come as often as I could. I was so worried. I didn't know what was going to happen to you and I couldn't lose one of my babies and... I'm just so happy you're awake!"

J.J. returned the embrace and listened to Garcia's rambling. She started to feel guilty. It was hard knowing she had put her team through so much pain and worry. She hated being the cause of that. The feeling of uncertainty the night she entered her house should've been a warning to get out, but she didn't. There was nothing she could do once he had her chained to the wall. She wished it hadn't happened, but it did.

"The rest of the team should be here in about an hour," Garcia told her, releasing her from the embrace that was hurting her arm, "Hotch is going to see what he can do about getting you out of here."

The blonde agent nodded, but she had nowhere to go. She wasn't sure if the technical analyst had realized this, but it didn't matter. She was happy to be awake.

Several hours later Hotchner walked into the room, his face still stoic as it usually was, but his eyes conveyed the joy he felt when he saw J.J. awake. Rossi and Reid, who both smiled at the sight of their friend, followed him into the hospital room.

"You're awake," the blonde looked over at Aaron, her blue eyes meeting his brown, and smiling at him.

"And happy to be," she replied, laughing slightly.

She couldn't help but smile at him, but J.J. felt incredibly guilty. So guilty she wanted everyone to leave the room so she could huddle in the corner. Of course she kept a straight face for the rest of them, not wanting her team to worry about her.

As she felt Emily's gaze on her she turned to face the brunette, looking at her with a small smile. J.J. knew the older agent could see through what she was doing, but thankfully the brunette said nothing.

"I talked to the doctors," Hotchner said, pulling everyone from their thoughts, "They said you could leave. However, you will need a place to stay."

"She can stay with me," Emily immediately responded, almost blushing at the stares she received from her teammates.

"I have the room, it's not a problem."

"It's decided. J.J. you'll be staying with Prentiss until you can get your own home," Aaron replied.

"Can I go now?" the blonde agent asked, receiving raised eyebrows from most of her team mates.

"I think I've spent enough time in a hospital," J.J. replied with a smile.

"Reid, Rossi, Morgan and Garcia, we're going back to the bureau, Prentiss you can take the day off with J.J. and help her adjust. You'll be staying with J.J. until she's ready to come back to work."

Penelope looked as if she were going to argue, but she closed her mouth, knowing it would do no good. She walked over to J.J. and gave the blonde agent a gentle hug before leaving the room next to Morgan, following the other members of the team out.

J.J. was lost in her thoughts for a while, but when she returned to reality she saw Emily putting clothes onto her hospital bed. She didn't speak, but gave the brunette a raised eyebrow.

"I bought them several weeks ago. I figured you'd need something to wear when you woke up," the brunette replied, a red blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Thanks," she replied, getting up from the hospital bed and watching as Emily closed the curtain behind her.

Once J.J. was changed they walked to Emily's car in silence. The brunette desperately wanted to ask questions, constantly looking over at her, checking to make sure she was all right. She noticed the blonde putting more weight on one leg than the other, and raised her eyebrow.

"You okay?" she asked simply, not wanting to overstep her boundaries.

"Yeah, my leg's just in a little pain. I'll be fine," she saw her friend trying to be strong, and nodded.

When they arrived at Emily's house the blonde looked around, noticing the differences she'd made since the last time she'd seen the house. Since becoming a profiler, J.J. had gotten better at noticing smaller details.

"Do you need to rest?" Emily asked, noticing J.J.'s limping had gotten worse since arriving.

"No," the blonde replied, but before speaking again she yawned, "I've been unconscious for five weeks."

Prentiss couldn't help but laugh at her, shaking her head.

"You're a really bad liar right now, J.J.," she smiled, taking J.J.'s hand and leading her to a spare bedroom.

"Lie down and go to sleep," she said, crossing her arms as J.J. started to object, "Being unconscious isn't the same as actually getting rest."

The blonde sighed and simply stood before finally nodding, lying down on the bed and curling up under the covers.

"Will you stay?" she asked meekly, looking up at her, "I was practically alone in the hospital."

Emily was about to argue that she was by her side constantly, but figured it would do no good. She slid into the bed beside the blonde, and held her breath as she felt J.J.'s head rest on her shoulder. Prentiss listened as the younger agent's breathing slowed in a matter of seconds, and smiled as she ran her fingers through her hair, protecting her as she slept.


End file.
